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« Heart Care

Heart Procedures

Unique surgical and non-surgical heart treatments

Male doctor evuating scan with patient

From forward-thinking researchers to trailblazing surgeons and specialists, Prairie Heart Institute at HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital is committed to bringing tomorrow’s visionary cardiac procedures right here to the heartland.

Surgeon hands performing cardiac cath

Cardiac catheterization

Cardiac catheterization (commonly referred to as a cardiac cath) is a procedure during which x-ray motion picture films are taken of your heart and the arteries that supply it with much needed oxygen-rich blood. A thin, flexible tube known as a catheter is placed into the leg or arm artery. A cardiologist threads the catheter through the artery to your heart. A special dye is then injected through the catheter, allowing the cardiologist to see heart valves and arteries on the x-ray screen. This helps the cardiologist determine the presence and extent of vessel damage in those who have symptoms of cardiac disease.

St. Elizabeth's Cath Lab is equipped to successfully care for the most severly ill, high risk patients with the assistance of the Impella, a percutaneous left ventricle assistance device.

Man walking on treadmill with female physician and technician looking on

Stress tests

A Stress Test, sometimes called a treadmill test, helps determine how well the heart handles work. As the patient walks on a treadmill or is given medication to stress the heart, an EKG machine monitors the heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, the electrical activity of the heart, and exercise tolerance. With a nuclear stress test, there are two parts to the test: a resting study and a stress study

During a Nuclear Stress Test, a safe amount of a radioactive drug is injected into your vein which allows the cardiologist to see how well blood is flowing to and through your heart.This test helps determine how your heart works during physical activity. As your body works during any physical exertion, it requires more oxygen and energy. To meet this demand, the heart beats faster and harder. The stress test shows if your heart receives enough blood from its own arteries to work harder, safely.

There may be restrictions as you prepare for this test. Please ask your health care provider.

Stat Heart Program

Prairie Cardiovascular initiated the development of the Prairie STAT Heart Program in August 2004. The Prairie STAT Heart Program was one of the first in the country to focus on streamlining emergency care to meet the national goal of providing angioplasty (a non-surgical procedure to treat diseased arteries) within 90 to 120 minutes from a patient’s arrival at the community hospital (often referred to as door-to-balloon time). This insures that the patient located in the rural community receives emergent heart care as fast as or faster than patients in larger urban areas.

At St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, our team of multidisciplinary specialists, including Cardiologists, Interventional Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons collaborate with local rural hospitals and our own ER Physicians to deliver the most advanced treatment options in Cardiac Care and allow patients to receive that care close to home.

Two physicians looking at scan results

Electrophysiology

ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (EKG)

The electrophysiology (EP) lab at Prairie Heart Institute at St. Elizabeth's Hospital offers patients the opportunity to have their arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat, tested, diagnosed and treated.

The $2.6 M EP Lab is outfitted with a low radiation dose BiPlane angio unit, a 50” multi input display and a myriad of other advanced technology systems. This capital investment provides Prairie Heart Institute at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital with the necessary equipment and space to:

Perform any ablation or implantable procedure currently available to cardiac electrophysiology including AF, VT, PVC, SVT and atrial flutter ablations.

Offer assistance to neurologists with extended monitors to evaluate cryptogenic stroke patients to rule out atrial fibrillation as a cause for stroke with implantable cardiac monitors.

Help our sickest patients with temporary ventricular assistance devices during these complex VT ablations, if they arise with the help of the Impella catheter.

Dr. Paban Saha and Dr. Michael Hushion, Electrophysiologists with Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants and part of the Prairie Arrhythmia Network, have implemented these advanced level techniques at St. Elizabeth’s to allow patients to enjoy a higher than normal rate of success on first attempts.

To refer a patient or learn more, contact Prairie Heart Institute at St. Elizabeth's at 618-233-6044.